Ken’s Trees

Coast Redwood Seeds

Yesterday right after I received all of my seeds in the mail, I was pleased to discover that the Coast Redwood seeds were ready to get planted immediately.  I had already picked up some seed starting soil and seed trays from Lowes last weekend so I had everything that I needed to get started.

I bought a total of 50 Coast Redwood seeds, but they only have a germination rate of 20%, so I can probably expect 10 trees if everything goes correctly.  Even though I could probably save space and place a couple seeds within each slot, I prefer to give each individual seed their own slot.  This way I avoid any possibility that two trees sprout in the same slot, and I can allow them to grow without disturbing them at a fragile age.  In the photo below I have counted out 50 slots in my seed tray and have started filling them with my seed starting soil.

When filling these make sure to tamp down the soil a bit, not too firm, but enough to ensure that you have a good soil base.  Coming straight out of the bag, this seed starter was quite fluffy and airy.  Watering the soil at this point makes it easier to work with when you are ready to sow the seeds which only need to be 1/8th of an inch deep.  I found a small stick to help make shallow holes in each slot where I will then place the seeds, this is pictured below:

One seed goes in each hole, and then they need to be covered with the surrounding soil and tamped down again, firm but not too hard.  My seed tray has a clear cover to keep the whole setup moist, the only step left is to find a warm place for the seeds and wait.

You’ll notice that I placed a label on the right most column with the letters CR to represent Coast Redwood.  If I run out of space for my other seeds I can use the remaining slots without getting confused about which seeds are which.  The wait could be as little as 21 days, but could take up to 70 to see any growth.